Easy
by Caskettalways
Summary: A story about two people and their road to being together.  Based on the song "Easy" by Rascal Flatts feat. Natasha Bedingfield.
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: Easy

**Disclaimer**: Hahahaha...I wish.

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><p><em>What he doesn't know<em>

_is how hard it is to make it look so easy._

When Kate saw Rick come through the door she honestly thought she would pass out.

Her stomach turned to knots and her hands started getting sweaty. If she hadn't been sitting down already she would've. He was the last person she expected to see tonight.

And when his eyes met hers, well, she thought was going to die.

Unfortunately, her date across the table noticed.

"Kate, are you alright?"

She looked back at him and tried to recompose herself.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You look like you saw a ghost or something."

She readjusted herself in her chair and started pushing around the food on her plate, making it

appear that she was better than she actually felt. Maybe Rick would just stay away. But she knew that wasn't in his nature.

"Kate?"

Hearing him say her name brought back thousands of feelings she forgot she'd pushed away. She took a deep breath and turned. "Rick. Hi."

"Hi." He paused and ran a hand through his hair. God how she missed doing that. "How...how are you?"

"Good. I'm good. You?"

"Oh I'm good."

Just then Kate noticed the blonde woman on his arm. "Ricky, aren't you going to introduce us?"

It took him a few seconds before I processed what she said. "Oh, yes. Sorry. Kate, this is Kelly. Kelly, this is Kate."

"Like the girl from your books?"

Being called a 'girl' didn't sit too well with Kate, but she wasn't in a position to complain. She held out her hand.

"Kate Beckett, NYPD." Kelly took it and wagged it like it was a fish. She didn't seem like the sharpest tool in the shed. A cough from behind her brought her back to her senses. "Oh, right. This is Seth. Seth, this is-"

"Let me guess, Richard Castle?" He stood up and extended his hand to Rick. "Seth Boxer. Its a pleasure to meet you Mr. Castle."

"Nice to meet you Seth." As Rick shook her date's hand his eyes flicked over to hers. She knew what he was asking, but she didn't want to answer. Luckily he didn't push. "Well, we should get to our table." He offered his arm to Kelly and started walking away, but not before turning back one last time. "It was really good to see you, Kate."

Before she could answer his date had dragged him away, leaving Kate to her date. Seth. He was a great guy, but if she'd had any doubts about him before, seeing Rick only verified that she was definitely not ready.

But, living up to his 'great guy' status, Seth tried to keep their date going even though it was evident that her mind was elsewhere.

"So, do you guys work together anymore?"

Kate took a large gulp of her wine before answering. "No, not really."

"But he's still writing Nikki Heat books?"

She knew he was just making conversation but these questions were getting very personal. "Well, he was with us for 5 years. I'm sure he's got plenty of research."

"Wow. That's incredible. What was it like? To work with him, I mean."

Kate glanced over at Rick and Kelly, just a few tables down. "It was great. Really great." She turned back and asked Seth about his work, trying to get him on something else. While he answered and resumed his dinner Kate let her attention wander back down to Rick. She didn't have a great view from where she was sitting, but her detective skills helped her see enough.

For example, Kelly had reached across the table and playfully touched Rick's arm 6 times.

After his second glass of scotch Rick actually started smiling at her jokes. With his mouth, not his eyes.

And he'd glanced over to look at Kate 9 times. Each time she was so very tempted to look back, make eye contact and tell him everything she's wanted to since the last time she saw him. But she didn't. She couldn't.

Seth didn't push for much more the rest of the evening. He knew there was no way she was going to be able to move on without getting over Rick. And she knew it, but she so wished it wasn't true. He walked her back to her apartment and kissed her cheek goodnight, but that was it. Part of her felt horrible, guilty even for leading him on like that. But part of her had been hoping she was ready. Obviously not.

After an unsuccessful attempt at a warm shower to wash her thoughts away Kate poured herself another glass of wine, grabbed Rick's latest novel, and went to sit on the couch. She curled up under an afghan and flipped the book over to the back cover. Slowly she ran her fingers over his picture. The photo didn't do him justice at all. She'd seen him under the moonlight on the beach and with the sunlight falling perfectly over his face in the early morning. She'd never forget those moments. Never.

She almost lost it when her phone rang from her clutch across the room. Part of her didn't want to get it, just let it go to voicemail. She had the next few days off so there'd be no call for a body. But still, she didn't want to regret it later. She hopped up to grab it before the last ring.

"Beckett."

"Hey. It's, um, me."

His voice. It was doing things to her again.

"Oh, hey-h-hi. Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, yeah," he answered quickly. "I-I'm sorry, you're probably still with your date. I'll, um, I'll let you go-"

"No, no it's fine." She wasn't ready for him to go yet. Which was wrong. _ So _wrong. They weren't together anymore. She shouldn't feel like this. "He left a little bit ago. How's Kelly?"

"Oh, fine. She left a while ago too."

"She seemed, um, pleasant." _Pleasant?_ Really? God how had it gotten this bad.

"Yeah, it was good. And Seth seemed n-nice." Were they really complimenting each other on their dates? Now this was just pathetic.

"Yeah. He's a friend of Ryan's."

"Speaking of, how are Ryan and Esposito?"

"They're good. They miss having you around. More than they let on." Would he catch on that she was using the boys as an excuse for how much she missed him? Sure, they did too. But not nearly as much as she did.

"Yeah, I miss them too. Maybe I'll stop by sometime this week. If that's ok with you."

"Sure sure." Did she answer that too quickly? "They would love that." _I would too._

"Good, good. Well, I should probably go. Early morning tomorrow."

"Yeah yeah, me too." A little lie wouldn't hurt.

"So I guess I'll talk to you later?"

"Yeah," she breathed into the phone. She didn't want him to go. But she couldn't tell him that.

"Ok. Well, I'm really glad I got to see you tonight."

"Me too. I'm, I'm glad I got to see you too."

She could hear him breathing on the other end, neither wanting to be the one to end. "Um, well, have a good night Kate."

"You, you too. Night Rick." She caught herself before she continued with _I love you_. Force of habit.

She waited for the click on his end before ending the call on her phone. She stared at his photo on her screen. One minute and twenty eight seconds. That's how long it took for all the feelings she'd been hiding away for the last two months to come crashing back.

For a moment, Kate thought about calling Lanie. She could really use some back-up on this one. But she remembered she and Esposito were having a much-needed date night.

So instead she padded back to her bedroom and pulled out a shoebox from underneath her bed. The box she swore she'd never open again.

Sitting on the bed she took of the lid and set it gently next to her. On top was a seashell Rick had given her on their first weekend at the Hamptons together. Alexis had been in California with Meredith and Martha had gotten herself a role on a small Broadway show. She and Rick had jumped so many levels in their relationship during that trip. There was a moment where she didn't think her life could have been more perfect.

Next in the box was a bundle of letters he'd written her throughout the course of their relationship. 9 months and he'd written her almost 100 letters. Some were just to say _Hi_ or _I love you_ or, her personal favorite, _Always_. But no matter how short or long, she kept them all. He didn't even know until he'd caught her putting one away one night. The amount of love in his gaze when he looked from the box back to her, well, she thought her heart was going to explode.

Her favorite letter, though, was at the bottom, below dozens of pictures and postcards from places he'd traveled to for his book tour. This letter was the most dangerous thing she owned.

_Dear Kate,_

_I want you to know that, no matter what happens to us, I will love you forever. Always._

_Rick_

That was her breaking point. She didn't even get the letter back in the box before the tears started streaming down her face uncontrollably. All she could think about was what had gone wrong.

And how had they ended up like this?

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><p><strong>AN**: Please don't hate me! I promise, I'm just as big of a Caskett shipper as the next person but I just couldn't help myself. Writing them like this makes me love them even more. Weird, I know. So if you loved it or hated it, please let me know what you think! Reviews would make a Castle-less Monday tomorrow just a little more bearable :) (Oh, and the song is by Rascal Flatts feat. Natasha Bedingfield) Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Title**: Easy

**Disclaimer: **Still don't own them.

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><p>Monday morning Kate walked into the precinct, ready to throw herself into a new case. The weekend had proven to be anything but the relaxing break she needed. Too much time alone gave her mind the opportunity to wander and run places it shouldn't. She felt guilty praying for a body to drop but she really needed the distraction.<p>

She set her jacket and purse down on her desk before heading to the break room to pour herself a cup of coffee. That was one thing, out of a million others, that she'd had to get used to once Rick stopped working with them. She had to get her own coffee. And every day she forgot, it was like this huge reminder of their failed relationship and it took everything she had not to break down in front of her team.

When she got back she saw Ryan sitting in the chair next to her desk. _His_ chair. She didn't ever tell anyone how much it hurt to see someone other than _him_ in that seat, but it really tore her up inside.

"Hey Ryan."

"Morning Beckett. How'd it go with Seth?"

She wasn't in denial, but there was no way she was going to tell Ryan that Rick had shown up and ruined everything. Especially after all of the trouble he went through to set them up.

"It was good. Seth's a really great guy."

Ryan nodded. "Mmhmm, so anything big happen?"

She looked at him as she took a sip of her coffee. "What do you mean?"

He just looked at her with an eyebrow raised and she knew that he knew. "Seth called me and told me he got to meet Richard Castle."

_That_ kind of big. "Oh. Yeah. He was on a date at the same restaurant we were at."

"Did you guys talk?"

"We chatted for a bit."

Ryan looked at her for a few seconds before lowering his voice. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," she said in the toughest cop voice she could muster.

"Are you sure? Because if you want I can-"

"RYAN!"

Both Kate and Ryan looked up to see Esposito walking over to her desk.

"I think your phone is ringing."

Ryan looked at his desk then back at his partner. "I don't hear it."

Esposito gave him a look. "Are you sure?" As he cocked his head to one side, Ryan seemed to catch the message he was sending and Kate had to laugh. These two were like the big brothers she never had.

"Oh, right. Yeah." He turned back to Kate before getting up. "Excuse me."

Kate watched Ryan walk back to his desk and pretend to talk on his phone. She let out another laugh before looking back at Esposito, who was watching her.

"Have a good weekend, Beckett?"

"It was fine," she smiled. "Have a good night out with Lanie?"

"Yeah yeah, we both needed it."

They talked for a little bit more before he left to answer his phone which actually _was _ringing. If he knew about her meeting with Rick he wasn't showing it. Of course, he was a detective, so chances were he probably knew.

Kate opened a side drawer and pulled out a folder of paperwork she needed to finish from the last case they'd finished. Unfortunately it didn't demand much from her brain and her mind started to wander again.

"_Rick, you don't have to stay here and watch me do paperwork. I can call you when I'm done and then we can go do something."_

_He gave her his special pout that made her agree to anything and everything. "But I like hanging out with you here."_

_At this point, they'd been officially 'dating' for about a month. She was still getting used to him paying even more attention to her, both at work and home, but she was definitely enjoying it._

"_But this is so boring. Aren't there more exciting things you could be doing?"_

_He leaned in close to whisper, "There's no where else I'd rather be than with you." He gave her a kiss before sitting back in his chair. "Don't ever forget that."_

Someone's slamming desk drawer brought her back to the present. She looked down and saw she wasn't getting anywhere on the paperwork. And she probably wouldn't until she got all of this worked out.

Stopping by the break room for one more coffee refill, she headed out to seek council from her best friend.

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><p>"Lanie?" she called out as she walked through the doors to the mourge.<p>

"Hey girl." Lanie popped out from behind a body she was examining. "You guys have a case or something? I didn't get any notification on a body."

"No, no. I just came by to talk. Do you have a minute?"

Lanie gave her a once over before taking off her gloves and disposing of them. "Sure." She motioned Kate back to her office. "Let's go in there."

Kate headed back to where she had pointed and took a seat in front of Lanie's desk. She heard the door close before Lanie took her own seat. "So what's up?"

"Don't tell me you don't already know."

Lanie looked at her, probably deciding how much she should say she knew. "Javi may have told me you had an interesting encounter during your date the other night. But I don't have any more than that. What did writer-boy have to say?"

Kate looked down at her hands. "We just said hi. We were both on dates so we didn't talk much." She looked up at Lanie, who was waiting for her to continue. "And then he called me later on that night." Lanie's eyebrows rose upon hearing this.

"And?"

She shrugged. "He just wanted to tell me he was glad he got to see me."

"And what did you say?"

Kate's voice was noticeably quieter as she answered. "That it was really good to see him too."

If Lanie didn't approve, she didn't say. "Anything else?"

"Not really." Kate looked back down at the floor. "We hung up and I pretty much cried myself to sleep."

"Oh honey. Why didn't you call me?"

"You were with Esposito and I didn't want to interrupt."

"Girl that's no excuse. You can _always _call me. No matter what."

"Yeah, well, I shouldn't have even been like that. We've been apart for like 2 months. I shouldn't feel like this."

"True, but you guys were used to seeing each other every day for years before that. It's going to take some time to get over him."

"I suppose."

"Unless, you don't want to get over him?"

Kate looked up at Lanie, her eyes narrowed slightly. "That's absurd."

"Then say it."

"Say what?"

"Say that you want to get over Castle."

Kate opened her mouth, the words right on the tip of her tongue. It would be easy. _I, Kate Beckett, want to get over Richard Castle_. Easy to say, yes. Easy to feel, no. She couldn't do it. Probably because it wasn't true.

"I don't know," she whispered.

Lanie opened her mouth to continue when Kate's phone went off.

"Beckett."

"Yo boss, you need to get back to the precinct. Stat."

"Why, what's wrong Esposito?"

"You've got a visitor."

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><p><strong>AN**: Oh. My. Gosh. You guys are so amazing! All of the reviews and alerts totally made my day. This was originally supposed to be a one-shot, but you all made me want to continue! I know this chapter was kind of short, but since I wasn't planning on this being whole story when I posted the last chapter I kind of needed to get it all set in place, but I think I have a plan now :) Please drop a review and let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Title**: Easy

**Disclaimer:** There's no way I'm brilliant enough to write a story like Kill Shot. But this is my feeble attempt at something.

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><p>Kate braced herself coming off the elevators. She had a pretty good idea of who this visitor was. Lanie offered to come along but she declined. That would make it seem like this was something worth fussing over, like she couldn't handle it. This was her life now. If she was going to be able to move on she needed to be able to handle things like this happening.<p>

She waited in the hallway for a second, making sure she was prepared for this.

Of course she wasn't.

But she couldn't let _them_ know that.

Her partners greeted her as she came around the corner.

"Hey Beckett."

"Yo boss."

"Hey boys."

Her eyes looked at both of them before making their way over to the man sitting up against her desk with his back to her. Slowly he turned around, his eyes lighting up when he saw her. Just like they used to. And apparently still did.

"Hey Kate."

"Morning Rick."

"How're you?" Now he'd gotten up off her desk and was making his way around to sit in his chair as she sat in hers. She tried to appear like she wasn't flustered by his presence, but she had a feeling she was failing miserably.

"I'm good. You?"

He nodded as he answered. "Good good, I'm good."

It was just then she saw the two coffees sitting on her desk. He noticed her gaze and reached out to put one in front of her and keep the other one for himself.

"I almost forgot. This is for you."

She took it in her hands and felt warmth spread throughout her entire body. But it wasn't from the coffee. It was that he remembered. That he still cared. "Thanks Rick. I appreciate it."

"Anytime."

He smiled and gazed at her, and she found herself thinking back to the first time she'd scolded him for doing that exact thing.

"_Rick, stop," she hushed, keeping her voice as low as possible while still trying to get her point across._

_Her agitation only made him smile wider. "Stop what?"_

"_Stop looking at me like that. People are going to know."_

"_Know what?"_

"_You know what."_

"_But I like hearing you say it."_

_He probably didn't like hearing it as much as she liked saying it. But that wasn't the point she was trying to make at that moment._

"_If I say it will you stop?"_

"_Maybe."_

_She glanced around the bullpen, but no one was around right then. So she let herself lean in, him doing the same, until they were only a few inches apart._

"_People are going to know," she paused, "that we're dating."_

_The light that sparked in his eyes when she said that made the butterflies in her stomach go crazy, calming down only when he closed the gap and kissed her._

"_And it's amazing." he whispered as he sat back._

_She laughed at him as she sat back in her own chair, trying to return to her paperwork. Glancing up she saw his head lean to one side._

"_What, not amazing for you?"_

_She shook her head and for a moment she saw sadness and fear in his eyes. She never wanted to see that look again, so she smiled at him, the smile she only gave to him, and reached across to take his hand, lacing their fingers together._

"_Amazing doesn't even begin to describe how being with you makes me feel."_

"Beckett!"

Kate jumped when she heard Esposito call her name.

"What?"

He nodded in the direction of her phone. "You gonna answer that?"

It was just then she realized her phone was ringing. She looked back at Rick for a second, and his face told her he may have traveled back to the same memory she did. She composed herself as best she could and picked up the receiver.

"Beckett." She listened as dispatch gave her the address of a murder just called in. "Got it. We'll be there in 20." She hung up, ripped the paper with the address off the pad and got up out of her chair. "Let's go boys. We've got a fresh one." She dug her keys out of her desk drawer and located her cell on her desk. She stood up right as Rick did.

"Well I should probably go and let you guys get to it." He stuck his hands in his pockets and started to head out.

"Yo, you ain't stickin around for this one?"

Rick turned around and smiled. "Well, I wouldn't want to get in your way or anything."

"When did that stop you before?" Ryan quipped, and Kate had to laugh. She looked up in time to see Rick look at her, probably searching for a sign that might say she didn't want him hanging around. She knew that if he didn't help on this case everyone would know it was because of her. And she didn't want that. Besides, now she would get to spend time with him. But she wasn't supposed to want that...

"Yeah, why don't you ride along for this one?" Both her partners' heads turned when they realized what she said. But she only looked at Rick, watching as his lips curled into her favorite smile.

"Well, if you insist." In that moment she knew she'd probably regret this, but she really didn't want to see him go.

So she walked past him, brushing up against him every so slightly, forcing herself to keep walking and not cave in to the warmth that was radiating from his body.

"Come on, we've got a murder to solve."

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><p>Stepping out of the car Kate saw Lanie was already at the scene, checking out their male victim. She stopped to look up at Kate once she'd reached the body.<p>

"Hey girl, how'd it go?"

"How'd what go?" She raised her eyebrows, hoping Lanie would get where she was going. Her eyes only narrowed in confusion so Kate nodded her head back slightly to where Rick was with Ryan and Esposito, checking in with some of the uniforms working the scene.

"Oh."

"Yeah. So what've we got?"

Lanie looked at her for another second before resuming her task at hand. "Victim's a male, mid to late 30's. Single GSW to the chest. His wallet was gone but he was clutching his keys in one hand so I hit the alarm button and I'm going to assume his car is that black one right there." Kate looked across the parking lot they were standing in to see the car that was being swept by CSU. "Uniforms are running the plate to see who it belongs to."

Kate walked around the body, trying to get what she could from him. "Nice suit. Maybe a banker or a lawyer?"

"I'd go with lawyer." Kate turned as Ryan walked up behind her, notebook in hand. "Uniforms say that car is registered to a Timothy Simmons. He's a partner of Simmons and Randall, which is located," he turned and gestured to the tall building right next to the parking lot, "right here."

Kate looked from the building back to the man on the ground. "Alright. Doesn't look like our killer used a silencer so let's canvas the area. Someone had to have heard the shot. Maybe they saw the killer too. His wallet is missing so have uniforms check the dumpsters nearby and see if they tossed it. We also need to track down our 911 caller and bring them in." As he started writing she hollered for Esposito, who came over with Rick in tow. "Espo why don't you check for next of kin. He's got a wedding band on so we're probably looking for a spouse. Rick and I will start looking around up in the office and see if anything comes up."

As her partners set off on their missions she and Rick started heading towards the front doors of the law firm. She couldn't help but notice his abnormal silence.

"You ok?"

He looked at her and smiled. "Yeah, just a little nervous. It's been awhile."

She couldn't stop herself from smiling back and nudging him with her shoulder. "Don't worry. You'll be great."

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><p><strong>AN:** If you're like me, all you're interested in in this stories is the Caskett storyline so I promise I'll keep the case info as brief as possible throughout the story. And if any of you are still alive after Kill Shot tonight, please drop a review and let me know what you think :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Title**: Easy

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Castle they would definitely be together by now. But they're not, so obviously I don't.

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><p>Kate gripped the wheel of her car tighter, thinking that the stronger her grip was, the faster they'd get back to the precinct. When they were dating, she killed for time alone with Rick. In fact, on several occasions Ryan and Esposito called them out on taking longer to get places when they drove together. Of course, she never admitted to that, but they knew it was true.<p>

But now, it was a little uncomfortable. And that made her feel horrible. She didn't _want_ to feel uncomfortable with him. But they weren't together anymore, so how else was she supposed to feel?

"So how's-how's everything going?"

"Good. Great. Everything's great."

If she'd thought that he meant that, she would've felt horrible. But something in his tone told her maybe he was feeling the same way she was.

"And Alexis? She still doing alright at school?"

Out of the corner of her eye Kate could see Rick smiled, just how he always did when they talked about Alexis. It was so obvious how proud he was of her. Another one of the million things Kate missed about being with Rick was spending time with Alexis.

"She's doing really great. She loves it there."

Kate smiled. "Great. I'm really glad."

"Well, you had a lot to do with that decision you know."

Kate felt blush creep into her cheeks. She didn't think he'd actually give her credit for this. "I didn't do that much."

"You have no idea how much you helped."

"_Is Alexis coming home at all tonight? I thought we'd been behaving ourselves pretty well lately," she joked, nibbling at his ear. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her below him on the couch._

"_Speak for yourself," he murmured as he placed kisses along her jaw._

_Just then they both heard the front door open and close. Kate tried to get up to make themselves look more presentable, but Rick didn't allow it before one more kiss. He sat up with her and looked over to see his daughter walking in._

"_Hey pumpkin, where've you been all night?"_

_Kate saw the look of exhaustion all over the teenager's face. "I was just at the library researching colleges."_

"_Anything look promising?"_

"_Maybe. I don't know. There's just so many choices. And I don't even know what I want to study." She dropped her backpack on the floor before plopping down in a chair across from them. "Kate, how did you know you wanted to be a cop?"_

_The question caught Kate a little off-guard. She looked at Rick, who looked back at her and seemed as surprised as she was. He nodded, and she turned back to Alexis._

"_Well, I um," she paused, trying to collect her thoughts. "I never really planned on being a cop." She looked up and saw Alexis looking at her, all attention and focus on Kate's answer. "I don't know, I guess I would've tried to go to law school or something if everything had worked out the way it should've. But after my mom died, my priorities changed, you know? I always wanted to do something that would help people, but this way I could help people who had gone through what I went through, except maybe I could give them better closure." _

_She felt Rick tighten his arm around her shoulder, helping her keep her composure._

"_So you didn't always know what you wanted to do?"_

_Kate shook her head. "I chose law enforcement because it was something that was important to me at the time I had to make a decision."_

"_And do you ever wish you'd chosen something else?"_

"_There are a lot of things I wish I could change, but I love my career and I have so many good friends that I wouldn't give up for anything. I mean, how else would I have met your dad?" She smiled and felt Rick chuckle behind her. "Does that help at all?"_

_Alexis smiled and Kate thought she looked a little less stressed. At least she hoped so. "Yeah, it really does." She got up and came over to give Kate a hug. "Thanks. I really appreciate it."_

_Kate wrapped her arms around Alexis. "Of course. Any time."_

_After giving her dad a kiss on the cheek Alexis went to pick up her backpack and head to her room. "Night guys."_

_The second she was out of sight Rick had her pinned back down on the couch, but she didn't fight it. He kissed her before pulling back to look at her._

"_Thank you."_

"_For what?"_

"_For helping Alexis."_

"_Of course." She placed a hand on his cheek. "You know I love her, right? I'd do anything to help her."_

_Kate felt as if she was melting into the couch when she saw Rick's face light up. Of course she meant it, but she'd say almost anything to get him to look at her like that._

"_You have no idea how happy that makes me." He smiled before leaning back in to kiss her again. Kate was just thinking about how they were going to need to take this into the bedroom when they heard the front door open again, accompanied with a soprano greeting. She laughed as she felt Rick's head fall onto her shoulder._

"_Your mother, however, I have different feelings for right now."_

"Kate?"

"What?" She looked over at Rick before looking back at the road, spotting the precinct up ahead. How had she completely spaced out for the last couple blocks?

"You were laughing."

"Oh. Sorry. Just thinking about something from the other day."

She waited to see if he pressed her further. He didn't, but she knew he didn't buy her story. But seriously, was she just supposed to tell him that she was thinking about a memory from when they'd been together?

Luckily they were able to keep up the chit chat until they got back to her desk, where Ryan and Esposito were waiting for her with new developments.

"Yo. So our vic is married, no kids. We're working on contacting the wife. We left messages on their home phone and her cell. Uniforms are going over to the residence to see if she's there."

On cue, Ryan stepped up to report his findings. "911 caller was an associate from the building. She found our vic as she was leaving. So far we haven't found anyone who was around the area and would've heard the gunshot. Also no luck with the wallet yet."

Kate let all the information sink in before she tried to think about what to do next.

"Alright, well let's pull financials and cell records. Let's see what our guy's been up to recently."

"You got it boss. You guys find anything in the office?"

Kate shook her head. "Nothing more than bills and case files. His assistant is sending over a list of all the people he's been working with on cases lately who might want him out of the picture. Right now we just need to wait and see what comes up with his wife and these cases he's been working on." She took a seat behind her desk and was half happy, half nervous that Castle did the same.

"So do you think it could be something with these cases he was working on?"

"Right now it's our best bet, but we'll have to wait until we get more information on him and talk to his wife."

Before Kate could continue Rick's cell phone rang. When he pulled it out and she saw his face drop when he looked at the screen, Kate had to laugh. She knew exactly who was calling.

He glanced up at her, then back down at his phone, then back at her. "I, um, I've got this book thing this afternoon and Paula's probably calling to make sure I remember to show up. I should probably get going to get ready anyways. Call me if you guys catch a lead? I'm interested to see how this one turns out." He smiled at her and before she had time to think about it she smiled back, probably looking more smitten than she should.

"Of course. Have fun."

"You know I always do," he quipped before getting up. "Talk to you later?"

Instead of thinking of something witty or decent to reply, she just nodded. He walked down to the elevator and, against her better judgement, she let her eyes stare at him up until the moment the doors closed. Once they did, she shook her head and scolded herself for falling for him all over again. If it hadn't worked the first time, why would it work this time?

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><p><strong>AN:** Greetings readers! I hope this update finds everyone well. And I hope you're still enjoying the story! Trust me, we're getting somewhere :) And in case you haven't picked up on it yet, the italicized sections are flashbacks to when Kate and Rick were together. It's kind of how I'm trying to show you what it was like when they were together, and maybe we'll figure out what went wrong :) But if you're still enjoying it, or even if you're not, I'd love to hear what you all think! Thanks :)


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Title**: Easy

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Castle, well, you'd know it.

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><p>Kate glanced around as she walked into the coffee shop and sighed with relief at the sight of the empty place. She hated going in to work early when they were working on a case, but on the bright side she didn't have to wait in line to get her much-needed caffeine fix.<p>

She even smiled a little when she saw who was behind the counter.

"Morning Lisa."

"Morning Kate. Usual?"

"Yes, please."

"Make that two."

Kate whirled around to verify the face with the voice she knew all too well. He looked at her and smiled. Just a smile, and she was a giddy school girl again. She looked back at Lisa, who looked a bit unsure as to what she should do. Kate nodded to her and the girl set off to do her work before turning back to this man who was apparently hell bent on confusing the hell out of her and her emotions.

"Rick. H-hi."

He smiled again. _Damn_ that smile and the things it made her feel. "Morning."

"Are you-" she looked behind him, trying to figure out how he was _here_, "are you following me?"

He let out a small laugh. "No, I was just on my way in to see you guys and I thought I'd stop and get us coffee. But it looks like you've got that covered."

"Yep. Every morning." _Every morning since we broke up._ It's not that she minded getting her coffee. She was a grown woman, it was definitely something she could handle. The problem was that she had to get her own coffee because _he _wasn't around anymore to do it for her.

The sound of her cell phone jerked her out of her thoughts. Before she answered she saw Rick's face. It was like it used to be when he would just stare at her, trying to read her thoughts. These were thoughts she didn't want him reading. That could be dangerous. _Very_ dangerous.

"Beckett."

"Yo boss, we got another one." Esposito read off the address.

"Is this one related to our first guy?" she asked as she jotted the address down on a napkin.

"Yeah, she was killed at her home though, not the office."

"_She_?"

"Melody Jennings. An assistant at the firm."

"Alright, we're on our way."

"We?"

"Yeah. Me and Rick."

"He's with you?"

"Yeah."

"Like, right now?"

"Yeah. We ran into each other getting coffee."

"Really? That's interesting because I-"

Kate ended the call before he could continue. She didn't need to hear it and she definitely didn't want to defend herself in front of Rick. Although it wasn't the first time Esposito had caught them together.

"_Morning sleepyhead." Kate smiled as she watched Rick's eyes flutter open, still heavy from sleep._

"_Mornin."_

_She snuck her hand out from under the warmth of the sheets and brushed back the hair that had fallen in front of his eyes. As she did he caught her hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing the inside of her wrist. He'd been awake for 10 seconds and was already putting the moves on her. God help her._

"_Mmm, I like this."_

"_This what?" he asked as he started kissing his way up her arm. _

_She paused before answering, long enough for him to look up and await her whispered reply. "Waking up with you."_

_A smile spread across his face as he moved closer, kissing her in a way that made her entire body tingle. Kate started to wrap her arms around his neck to pull him closer when her cell phone rang loud in the room. As always, Rick did his best to detain her._

"_Don't answer it." He started trailing kisses along her jawline._

"_I have to."_

"_No you don't." Now he'd reached that spot on her neck. The spot that made everything dissolve away into nothing._

"_Yes I do, I'm on c-call." She paused for a moment and tried to keep some sort of grip on coherency. She was failing miserably. It was time to bring out the big guns. "And if I don't answer they're going to think that something's wrong and come here looking for me. They'll find out you're here."_

_That got his attention. They hadn't told anyone yet. It was nice, just them knowing. At least for a while. It made everything so much more exciting._

_He groaned as he rolled away, silently telling her he understood but he wasn't happy about it. That made two of them._

_She caught her phone just before it went to voice mail._

"_Beckett."_

"_Sorry boss, we got one."_

"_Alright, what's the address?" Esposito read it and she locked it away. "Got it. We'll be there soon."_

"_Wait, 'we'?"_

"_Yeah, me and Castle."_

"_Like he's there? Right now?"_

_If she'd been on top of her game in that exact moment she probably could've recovered easily. But instead, she chose to hesitate._

"_Um, no."_

"_Liar."_

"_No. No, I'm not." She saw Rick lean in to try to help but she covered his mouth and pushed him away. She could still salvage their privacy._

"_But you said 'we'."_

"_Yeah, as in I'm going to call him and then we'll be there." She held her breath, praying to God that Esposito would just let it drop._

"_Mmhmm. Ok, fine, whatever. But just make sure you guys don't show up at the same time, otherwise people will start to talk. They're not all as nice as I am."_

_Before she could respond he hung up, leaving her there with her mouth wide open while her brain tried to figure out just what had happened._

"_Did he figure it out?"_

_Kate looked over to see Rick sitting there next to her, quietly awaiting her explanation. He looked absolutely adorable, shirtless and his hair completely mussed. She almost forgot that that was why they were in their current situation._

"_I'd be a little embarrassed to call him my partner if he didn't."_

_Rick smiled and scooted back over to her, returning to his spot on her neck. She made no move to stop him._

"_Can't say I'm too upset. That means I get to do this at work now," he whispered as he made his way back up to her waiting lips._

_Oh, she was definitely going to have to lay down some ground rules._

"_No, this means that you're going to have to officially ask to court me."_

"_Really? I think your dad is fine with us."_

_She didn't even try to hide her smirk. "Not Dad. The boys."_

_A loud laugh escaped her lips as he went rigid beside her. All that talk and deep down he was afraid of Ryan and Esposito. And he had every reason to be._

"_You don't think, they wouldn't, I could, no..." he stammered. She laughed again and placed both hands on either side of his face, turning it so he was looking at her._

"_There's a simple solution to avoid the pain and torture." She waited until that sank in and he was looking at her, really looking at her. "Just don't let me go," she whispered before placing a kiss on his lips._

"Kate?"

He had that look again. Trying to figure out what she was thinking.

He held up their coffees. "Dead body?"

Oh yeah, he meant her job? "Yeah. Yeah, let's go."

She led him out of the shop and towards her car, heading off for their new crime scene instead of the station.

"So who's this victim?" he asked as they sat at a stop light.

"Melody Jennings. Apparently she's an assistant at the firm."

"I see." She heard him silently thinking for a few seconds. "So it looks like your theory about these murders being related to one of their cases might be right."

Kate shrugged as she picked up her coffee. "Maybe. Maybe not. We'll have to see." She took a sip and stared at the stop light, pleading for it to turn green soon.

"So, tomorrow..." he trailed off, and she knew he was testing to see if she was on the same page as him.

"Yeah." She didn't look at him, just kept her eyes on the glaring red in front of her. But she knew. She knew he knew. And he knew she knew.

"Well, if-if you're not doing anything, we could, uh, we could do, um, something."

All coherency left Kate's brain. This was like him asking her out, wasn't it? But even if it was, they couldn't. She couldn't. Break-ups didn't work this way. You didn't go out on dates with guys you'd been split up for over two months with, right? No.

But she wanted to. God did she want to. And all she had to do was say yes. That's it. But she couldn't. No. She couldn't.

"I-I guess it just depends on how long it takes to finish up this case."

The universe took pity on her and the light turned green, giving her something else to focus on. Out of the corner of her eye, though, she saw his face fall a little. Just like her heart.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

If only he knew. If only he knew how badly she wanted to say yes. If only.

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><p>So yeah, there's this thing called school. Basically it takes over all free time, consumes every single thought in the mind, and doesn't let people do anything but focus on it. Oh yeah, it sucks. But this thing called Christmas Break also exists to help balance the evil of school. So no worries, it will no longer take almost a month to update. My deepest apologies. So other than hating me for lack of timely updating, I'd love to hear what y'all think :)<p> 


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